WTF then what the hell is all of this about? Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos July 11, 2018 For all the time we have spent "raising awareness" that veterans and the troops are committing suicide, the result of all the "effort" and funding, speeches and stunts, prove it has been a miserable failure. I've been tracking these reports for so long now, that it is hard to forget these men and women were never just numbers for someone to use, but people with families, friends and dedicated their lives to serving others. One of them has been on my mind a lot lately. His name was Joshua Omvig. He was the catalyst for the first Suicide Prevention Act. What would Joshua Omvig think of us now? After all, the suicide prevention act in his name was signed by President Bush back in 2007. Rep. Braley on Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act
The House debates the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act, which directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop and implement a comprehensive program to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans. The bill is named for an Iraq veteran who took his own life, and recognizes the special needs of veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and elderly veterans who are at high risk for depression and experience high rates of suicide.
The bill follows hearings in the Oversight and Veterans Affairs committees seeking to address the tragic mental anguish experienced by many veterans, and is part of ongoing, comprehensive efforts by the new Congress to make veterans a top priority. Rep. Bruce Braley speaks in favor.
The response I get from people when I try to get them to stop using the number of "22 a day" is that they cannot defend themselves, so they snap back with "it's just a number" and it is important to get people aware veterans are committing suicide. One other statement that makes me clinch my fists is "it doesn't matter how many because one is too much." Just a number? It doesn't matter how many? Seriously? Then what the hell is all the awareness for? If people are that clueless, that heartless, that ignorant, then losing veterans like Joshua Omvig meant nothing at all to them. While the VA puts out extensive reports on the known suicides, reporters got lazy and grabbed a headline. They continue to use the number when all across the country they cover their feel good stories of groups pulling stunts to have fun while making people aware of a number. While we lost about 5 million veterans since 1999 due to age and other factors, the VA puts the "number" as exactly what it was back then. You know, back before all the awareness, bills, speeches, money, funding and everything else.
While the VA reports stopped at 2015 in the latest one, the DOD reports every Quarter. Those numbers should have stunned everyone, but no one is talking about them. The first quarter of 2018, 121 Active and Reserve and National Guards members committed suicide. It has been repeated every year since 2012 averaging 500 per year. Care to guess how many died in combat this year? According to ICasualties it is 14. But yet again, no one is talking about any of that. The thing is, no one wants to cover the bad results when they can cover stunts and smiling people having fun. Too bad though that they have not figured out their lack of attention has had such deadly results. Oh well, considering they people read about them as if they are nothing more than "an easy number to remember" they didn't matter anyway! Guess it has all been a oversight that Congress never really found what they were seeking. Anyone's guess why they stopped looking! WTF then what the hell is all of this about?
Federal special agent accused of conspiring with brother to steal $100,000 from VA 7 News Miami Brian Entin Daniel Cohen July 10, 2018
Barros was in the Marines and is a former VA police officer … until two weeks ago, when U.S. Marshals arrested him, he was a Health and Human Services special agent.
(WSVN) - A federal agent is accused of stealing money from the department where he used to work, and investigators say that money was supposed to be helping injured veterans. 7’s Brian Entin investigates.
Brian Entin: “Mr. Barros, is there anything you want to say to the veterans who say they needed that money?”
Adolfo Barros: “No, I don’t. Talk to my attorney.”
Adolfo Barros didn’t say much as he walked out of court. He’s accused of stealing nearly $100,000 from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Brian Entin: “The Feds say that you claimed you were injured, but that you weren’t, and that you scammed the system.” read more here Yes, older veterans and their caregivers cannot get help but this guy did!
'Miracle' baby found safe in Montana forest after being buried alive NBC News by Tim Stelloh Jul.09.2018
"For all of us at the sheriff’s office, this is what we call a miracle," the sheriff's office said. "For the officers who were present for this event, it’s especially hard knowing what this small baby endured in the last 24 hours."
A 5-month-old baby who was buried in a Montana forest for at least seven hours was found in the middle of the night Sunday, officials in Missoula said Monday.
The infant was in good condition at a hospital after being left alone for "several hours," the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
A man who was supposed to be taking care of the infant, Francis Carlton Crowley, 32, was arrested for criminal endangerment, authorities said. Additional charges were expected. It wasn't clear what Crowley's relationship is to the child or who the boy's mother is. read more here
Chicago officer kills himself in police station parking lot, officials say Chicago Tribune Peter Nickeas Julu 10, 2018 A Chicago police officer killed himself in the parking lot of the Calumet District police station Sunday night, according to authorities.
A spokesman for the Chicago Police Department confirmed the death Monday.
The officer, a 36-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the police station about 7:30 p.m.
He shot himself in a patrol car with his service weapon, according to authorities. An autopsy Monday ruled his death a suicide. read more here
Air Force veteran kills himself after shooting wife, triplet daughters Air Force Times By: Charlsy Panzino 23 hours ago
An Air Force veteran killed himself after shooting his wife and three of their daughters in Alabama on Saturday, according to authorities.
An Air Force veteran in Alabama shot and killed his wife and one of their daughters. (File photo)
Robert Orsi was upset after his wife, Charlene — who also served in the Air Force — filed for divorce, the Alabama News Network reported.
The Elmore County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook page that the divorce was over Robert Orsi’s alleged drug use.
Orsi allegedly shot and killed his wife under their carport, then went inside their home and lined up his 12-year-old triplet daughters on the floor to shoot them. One was killed, but two survived.
Orsi’s 13-year-old daughter escaped and called 911 from a neighbor’s house, according to WEAR-TV.
After the shootings, Orsi doused the home with gasoline and set it on fire, but he didn’t see that two of his 12-year-old daughters made it out of the house, even with multiple gunshot wounds. The third 12-year-old was found dead in the house, along with Orsi. read more here
Department of Defense Suicide Prevention Office just released the 1st Quarter suicide report for 2018. QSR Data
Attachment A provides a detailed breakdown of the number of deaths by suicide, within each
Service and Component. For the 1st Quarter of 2018, the Military Services reported the
following: 80 suicide deaths in the Active Component 18 suicide deaths in the Reserves 23 suicide deaths in the National Guard The number of Active Component suicide deaths is greater, by 5, in the 1st Quarter of 2018,
compared to the 1st Quarter of 2017 (80 versus 75 deaths) Read the report and look at the chart on the last page. Then look at the numbers of those killed in action during those same years. I am sure I do not have to add another word to what you find. The question is, what are you going to do with what you just learned?
The other victims: First responders to horrific events often suffer in solitude Tampa Bay Times By Heidi de Marco, Kaiser Health News Published: July 9, 2018
The "first responders" who provide emergency aid have been hit hard not just by recent large-scale disasters but by the accumulation of stress and trauma over many years, research shows. Many studies have found elevated rates of post-traumatic stress disorder among nurses, firefighters and paramedics. A 2016 report by the International Association of Fire Fighters found that firefighters and paramedics are exhibiting levels of PTSD similar to that of combat veterans.
Medical personnel tend to a victim after the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The "first responders" who provide emergency aid have been hit hard not just by recent large-scale disasters but by the accumulation of stress and trauma over many years, research shows. [Sun Sentinel]
The day a gunman fired into a crowd of 22,000 people at the country music festival in Las Vegas, hospital nursing supervisor Antoinette Mullan was focused on one thing: saving lives.
She recalls dead bodies on gurneys across the triage floor, a trauma bay full of victims. But "in that moment, we’re not aware of anything else but taking care of what’s in front of us," Mullan said.
Proud as she was of the work her team did, she calls it "the most horrific evening of my life" — the culmination of years of searing experiences she has tried to work through, mostly on her own.
"I can tell you that after 30 years, I still have emotional breakdowns and I never know when it’s going to hit me," said Mullan.
Calamities seem to be multiplying in recent years, including mass shootings, fires, hurricanes and mudslides. Just last month, a gunman burst into the newsroom of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md., killing five journalists and injuring two others.
Many of the men and women who respond to these tragedies have become heroes and victims at once. Some firefighters, emergency medical providers, law enforcement officers and others say the scale, sadness and sometimes sheer gruesomeness of their experiences haunt them, leading to tearfulness and depression, job burnout, substance abuse, relationship problems, even suicide.
Many, like Mullan, are stoic, forgoing counseling even when it is offered.
"I don’t have this sense that I need to go and speak to someone," said Mullan. "Maybe I do, and I just don’t know it." read more here
Service dog donated to veteran in honor of man who lost his life to suicide NBC 9 News Katie Eastman July 9, 2018
KUSA — Talking to dogs is easy, but talking to people is tough, especially when those people are reporters with cameras.
But Mac Pickett, a 50-year-old from Colorado Springs, has the courage to talk about his struggles now that he has a 13-week old German Shepherd by his side.
Beres is donating the puppy, Apollo, to Pickett to help with his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. Pickett is talking in hopes that his story will help someone else.
"I just put my fears to the side," he said. "If I’m just able to help one person."
After 21 years in the army, Sgt. 1st Class Pickett was diagnosed with a mental illness that kept him inside, scared to talk to people.
He understands the silence that Aaron Alexander suffered.
"July 10, 2016, my son Aaron Alexander at 19 years old died by suicide," said Wendy Galloway.
When Galloway's son joined the National Guard, he didn't seek help for depression because he worried the military would kick him out.
Two years after his death, the stigma remains. read more here
Preventing suicides begins in your own house! Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos July 9, 2018
In case you forgot what being a Captain is, Definition of captain
1 a (1) : a military leader : the commander of a unit or a body of troops (2) : a subordinate officer commanding under a sovereign or general (3) : a commissioned officer in the army, air force, or marine corps ranking above a first lieutenant and below a major
b (1) : a naval officer who is master or commander of a ship (2) : a commissioned officer in the navy ranking above a commander and below a commodore and in the coast guard ranking above a commander and below a rear admiral c : a senior pilot who commands the crew of an airplane d : an officer in a police department or fire department in charge of a unit (such as a precinct or company) and usually ranking above a lieutenant and below a chief
Considering that law enforcement suicides have gone up, while deaths in the line of duty have not gone up the same way, time for Captains to step up. It isn't as if no one has been talking about this. This report from AP came out in 2008. Yes! 2008, ten years ago!
Considering firefighters are committing suicide in higher numbers, according to a report from CBS, emergency responders are ten times more likely to commit suicide and that came from Emergency Medical Services. Battalion Chief Erik Sutton and Battalion Chief David Dangerfield, posted about firefighters and PTSD, before he committed suicide, among many more, are still finding it hard to ask for help. How many will it take before Captains get some courage to actually do something that will get rid of the stigma? 81% of the firefighters feared they would be seen as weak according to an NBC survey. Is it that they are under some kind of delusion that the people under them are no longer the kind of people who would die to save someone else? Do they know their own people? If the stigma of PTSD among those who would die for the sake of someone else is still stronger than the events they face on a daily basis, then the Captains and other leaders need to start figuring out how they need to change the message. The only way to do that is to actually find out what PTSD is and the difference between what civilians get from one event AND THE TYPE OF PTSD RESPONDERS GET FROM FACING DEATH RESPONDING TO THE OTHERS THEY WOULD DIE FOR! This isn't rocket science but it is common sense. When we have so many still taking their own lives after all these years, they ran out of excuses!
Navy Corpsman Found Dead in Barracks ID'd as Emmett Blake Rowan NBC 7 News San Diego By Alexander Nguyen July 6, 2018
The sailor that was found dead in his barracks Monday was identified Friday as Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Emmett Blake Rowan, Navy officials said.
Rowan was found around 9 a.m. at Naval Medical Center San Diego, where he was stationed.
Rowan, a native of Brookville, Pennsylvania, enlisted in the Navy on June 25, 2013, and reported to basic training at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois from June 25, 2013, to Aug. 24, 2013. read more here
